Andrew Whitworth donned Cincinnati Bengals colors for over a decade and quickly became a fan favorite. As Cincinnati transitioned out of the Carson Palmer era and into the Andy Dalton one, No. 77 was a staple of leadership and a linchpin of perennial playoff teams.
While he deservedly gained more personal and team accolades in the larger Los Angeles market (at his former team’s expense in the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI), Whitworth hasn’t been shy about both praising and knocking the Bengals in his post-football
media career.
However, after Dexter Lawrence II was dealt to the Bengals in a blockbuster trade, Whitworth applauded the team. He appeared on the Pat McAfee Show and discussed the organizational pivot undertaken in this acquisition.
“It’s more about the message. Do I think Dexter Lawrence is a good piece for them? Hell yeah I do, but I also love the message. We’re sending the whole team a message: ‘Hey, we got a window. We’re about to go try to take that window right now,’” said Whitworth.
Whitworth is keenly aware of “messages” and how impactful moves can influence a locker room’s attitude. Cincinnati never made this significant of a move in his Bengals tenure, save for shipping out Palmer for draft picks (as opposed to trading for an impactful player).
The Rams, under the recent leadership of Sean McVay and Les Snead, have seen the team mortgage long-term gains for high short-term payoffs. Whitworth also witnessed that first-hand, thus his stance on the Bengals needing to do a little bit of the same.
Well, “Big Whit” got his wish for the Bengals this weekend when Lawrence was dealt to the Bengals. And, aside from his stamp of approval on the move, it seems as if many Cincinnati players were also excited for “Sexy Dexy’s” arrival, if we’re taking their social media posts as any indication.
Earlier this offseason, Whitworth took to the airwaves in both a plea and a criticism of the Bengals’ conservative football ways. In another late-March interview with McAfee and Co., Whitworth said the following about the team he both loves, but sees their shortcomings:
“A franchise like Cincinnati, let’s be real with each other: They’re not going to live in a trade world, not going to overpay guys. So guess what? You’re going to have to draft well. And when you don’t, the whole entire team suffers, and it’s been a problem,” he said.
Whitworth wasn’t wrong here, but this big move that was way outside of the Bengals’ wheelhouse has to be looked at as a “hot seat” one. Whether it’s in the “Fire Duke Tobin” billboards around Cincinnati, Joe Burrow’s 2025 holiday-time comments about “having fun”, and/or the team not making the playoffs since 2022, the ultra-loyal team may have some unspoken ultimatums in place.
To boot, recent reports have the Bengals potentially being movers in the NFL Draft, now that they don’t have a first-round pick. Whether that’s in moving back into the first round, or back further into the second to gather more picks, remains to be seen.
Regardless, this has been one of the most exciting and productive offseasons for the Bengals in team history. Aside from Lawrence, they bolstered their defense with outside additions in Boye Mafe, Bryan Cook, Kyle Dugger, Ja’Sir Taylor, Jonathan Allen, and Josh Johnson. They also retained Joe Flacco, Dalton Risner, Jalen Davis, Tanner Hudson, while extending Orlando Brown Jr.
